Pruning ornamentals Ornamental shrubs and trees by no means all require pruning; certainly not regularly. A number profit from it, however, even though they may survive without it. Pruning ornamentals is simply a matter of assisting them to appear at […]

Organic gardening This is a system of gardening in which organic products (derived from organisms that have had life) are used to maintain and increase soil fertility. Until the nineteenth-century gardeners relied almost solely on organic wastes for manuring the […]

There are two kinds of plant that we bring into our houses. The more spectacular are the flowering plants, cyclamen, azaleas or African violets. Unfortunately their season of attractiveness is limited. All too soon the flowers will fade and the […]

Spent hops The residue after hops have been extracted with water in the brewery is usually sold to haulage contractors who supply commercial growers with the entire output from many breweries and in consequence, the amounts available for gardeners are […]

Bulb cultivation Botanically, bulbs are buds, commonly subterranean, producing roots from their undersides, and consisting of layers of fleshy rudimentary leaves, called scales, attached to abbreviated stems. There is considerable uncertainty in the minds of many gardeners as to the […]

Few gardeners do not at some time or another have the urge to grow plants in a greenhouse. It extends the range of plants that can be grown so that those too tender for our winter climate can be cultivated […]

Grafting The need for grafting arises from the fact that very many plants will not propagate reliably from cuttings. Nurserymen also find that they can raise more plants more quickly by using standard rootstocks. Grafting of plants appeals to many […]